PARCHMENT, MI – The Parchment School District Board of Education used charts and graphs to explain the drastic revenue losses driving the district to privatize 11 custodial positions and lay off a librarian, 3 aides and a part-time counselor at their meeting on Monday.

The custodial staff picketed outside Parchment High School on Monday night to fight for their jobs but 65-year-old Bette Whitacker, who has been a custodian at Parchment for 25 years, said she knew it was hopeless.

Whitacker said she was told there were no concessions they could make that would beat the deal janitorial service company D.M. Burr is offering the district to contract their jobs.

"We were willing to make concessions, but administrators said there was no way, we would be working for free," said Whitacker, who is the president of the local Michigan Education Association's Custodial, Maintenance, Monitors and Transportation union branch.

Most custodians make $15 an hour or less working for the district and have wages negotiated in one to two-year contracts, she said. The custodial three-year contract with the private firm is a KRESA consortium deal that is taking place at other districts in the area.

During Monday night's public comment period, residents said contracting janitors who are paid lower wages will lead to poor work ethic, could make the schools less safe and will hurt the community because 11 custodians would lose their jobs.

“Why do we cut on the bottom?” asked bus driver Steve Terry. “Why do we got to cut the small guy first?”

Others questioned the board members about their salaries and lack of transparency, but the board said the budget issues are not new and that information had been dispersed in their quarterly newsletter.

Parchment Superintendent Matthew Miller explained how per-pupil state-granted foundation funds have been decreasing since 2007 and suffered a $540,000 loss last year, bringing its value to $11.8 million, which is less than its value a decade ago. Miller also explained how Parchment is not yet one of 48 Michigan school districts whose budgets are in red.

“We have a systems and funding issue and if something doesn’t change in the next two years, you will not recognize public schools as something you want your children to attend,” Miller said. “We have good custodians and we know that. The problem isn’t here, it’s at the state. Our system is broken.”

The move to privatize the custodial staff and cut the other positions will save the district $417,000, with $230,000 of the savings coming from privatizing the positions. Unfortunately, the cuts are not enough. The district will still have an approximate $600,000 deficit after the cuts.

The board adopted a 2012-13 budget on Monday, approving an estimated $15.4 million in revenue and spending $16 million. The current fund balance is $1.3 million, which is a $600,000 loss from last year.

Reduced federal, KRESA and state funding all contribute to the shrinking revenue streams, Rohrer said. The district expects 1,730 students next year, a $7,000 per pupil Foundation Grant, and $70,000 from state performance funding. The district will levy 18 mills to generate $994,000, as well.

The district will move to full-day kindergarten next year in order to continue receiving the needed funding, will hire one high school teacher, is filling one resigned teacher position at the elementary school and will be freezing all health insurance and salary increases.

When asked which services would be cut next, Board President Dale Pominville said there are not many positions they are not considering for future budgetary cuts, including teachers and administrators.

“I used to call myself a Republican,” said Board Member Rob Thayer. “The current Republican party goal is to cut the legs out of public schools. It’s a hidden goal. When a district goes bankrupt, the Governor can appoint a district manager and take control of the local schools. What they are trying to do is destroy public schools.”

In response to a local questioning the board’s transparency, Miller said because Parchment is a School of Choice school, when it receives negative publicity it affects enrollment numbers. His response was met with laughter from locals due to the recent drunken driving charges being pressed on the Middle School Assistant Principal and Athletic Director John Thompson.

John D. Thompson
waived his right to an evidentiary hearing earlier this month on charges of
drunken driving and fleeing police and was ordered to stand trial in
Kalamazoo County Circuit Court. Pominville said Johnson is still on unpaid leave and the board is waiting for the trial before they revisit the issue.

“When I graduated here, this high school was in the top 100 in the nation and I was so proud of that but I don’t know if it’s ever going to get back to that,” said 24-year-old Bradley Bell, as he urged board members to stop blaming Lansing for their budgetary woes. “I don’t think of you as politicians, we vote for you because we live next to you and go to church with you. Is there ways we could be more fiscally responsible?”

Residents also tried to suggest fundraising ideas to resolve the problem, but their efforts seemed to come too late.

After the meeting, Miller pulled a small container of fishing flies out of his pocket, which a janitor who lost his job handed him on Monday.

“He gave this to me because we always talk about fishing,” Miller said. “I know him; he knows my daughter and is no one wants to do this. We’re running out of options and this is the 11th year of cuts. These cuts are all people. The easy stuff is done.”